Improved clothes-wringer



NITED STATES Arnim" Fries.

MINER VAN AUKEN, OF AMSTERDAM, NEIV YORK.

IMPRovED CLOTH Es-WRINGER.-

To all whom t'may concern: l Be it known that I, MINER VAN AUKEN, ofAmsterdam, in the county of Montgomery and State of New York, haveinvented a new and Improved 'Clothes-VVringer; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to `the accompanying drawings, forming a-partof thismy specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, likeletters in the several figures indicating the same parts, and in whichdrawings- Figure lisa front elevation of my improved clotheslwringer;Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section;` Fig. 3, a transverse section;and Fig. 4, a longitudinal section of the upper pressure-roller detachedfrom the machine and showing its' action under a heavy pressure when alarge compact mass of -clothes is passing between it and the lowerpressureroller, the view being somewhat exaggerated in order to showclearly the operation of the machine.` l In the drawings, A indicatesthe standards held together by an upper girt, B, (which to give greaterease to the operation of wringing the clothes may be made elastic,) anda lower girt, C, which is so constructed as also to serve the purpose ofreturning the water to the wash-tub to which the wringer may beattached. p

D and E indicate the upper and lower pressure-rollers, supported uponshafts f and f', as shown, the latter extending through one of thestandards and terminating in a crank, g, by means of which the machineis operated. The upper pressure-roller is in the main composed of twolever-cores, 7L h, their interior being bored out in the form of cones,the bases of which are at the extremities of the cores, and the point atwhich the cones meet, as at i', being just of sufficient diameter toallowot the passing of the shaft f through them. These conical-formedcores are held in position uponthe shaft f by means of washers and nuts,as represented, and are clothed with a cylinder of rubber, It, held inplace `by the ianges Z at the outer extremities of the cores.

Thus formed and applied to the shaft f, the

cores h in the operation of the machine oscillate, as it were, upon thepoints t, which only are in contact with the shaft, thus, vin fact,forming levers having their fulcra at 12.

F F are boxes having their lower ends fitted to the shaft f and theirupper ends rounded to fit in a corresponding concavity inthe lowerlimbs, fm, of the spring G, as shown in section in Fig. 2. They are thusheld in contact with the said spring at fixed points,while at the sametimethey are allowed to rise and fall within the lon gitudinal openingYor slot p in the standards. The spring G, having pins or screws rpassing through its lower limbs, m, just outside of the standards,'isnot only confined in proper position and fprevented from having alateral movement within the slots or openings p, but also prevents theupsetting of the bones13` when the spring for any cause is subjected totorsion.

For practical purposes and economy of structure the spring G may be madeof wood and still answer all the requirements of the machine. Iconstruct it of a single piece of material, with kerfs of varyinglength, as at s and s', thus forming spring leaves or limbs fm, m', andm2 of varying capacities, the power of each being capable of addition`to` that` of the other, according to the amount of pressure upon theclothes, the whole together-giving a great volume of power within arestricted compass. In other words, if light articles are passed throughthe wringer the pressure eX- ercised by the limbs m will be sufficient;if heavier are wrung, then the additional power of the limbs m will bebrought into action; and, inally, if a large compact mass of clothes, asindicated in Fig. 4, is passed through, the entire power of the spring Gwill be brought to bear upon them. The power of the spring is regulatedby a crank-screw, H,

applied as represented in the figures, said screw H passing through thecenter of the upper girt, B, and abutting against a plate, n, situatedcentrally on top of the spring G. By thus centrally applying the screwH, the spring G is permitted to rock, and so relieve the machine fromany tendency to bind under varying thicknesses of clothes` passingbetween the rollers, while at the same time, the spring being made solidor unbroken in its central portion, with lateral limbs of varying powerat its ends, as before described, the

yielding of the spring is confined to its limbs rather than at itscentral portion, and so, more directly and properly, transmits its powerto the rollers, the proper curve and pressure of the limbs under theaction of the screw ll being, in part, due to the xf'arying lengths ofthe kerls s and s.

The lower roller, E, may be constructed with a cylindric core, 7i', andclothed with indiarubber, the same as roller D, or it may be made in allrespects the same as the upper roller.

The operation of the machine may be clearly understood by reference toFig. i. The clothes L, in a large compact mass, being drawn between therollers in a position central of their len gt-h, force the inner ends ofthe lever-cores 7L up toward their shaft f, while at the same time theirouter ends are correspondingly depressed, coming in contact with therollerbelow, and compress the clothes with a leverpower having itsfulcrum at i against the shaft f, and this same lever-pressure will beexerted upon the clothes whether they be thickest at the ends of therolls or thick at one end and thin in the middle, with no clotheswhatever between the opposite ends ot the rollers.

Centrally beneath the girt C, I attach a knee, P, having a buttonset-screw, Q, for the purpose of securing the wringer to the wash-tub.The wall ot' the tub being passed in rear of the knee and in front ofthe legs t of the stand ards, and the button r screwed up against thetub, securely adjusts the wringer in position for operation. The tub andwringer are thus held in juxtaposition by means ot" a leverage whichholds the parts together with great ii rmness and in a manner farsuperior to the ordinary mode ol' applying` two set-screws.

Immediately in front and a little below the axis of the roller E, Isuspend a guide-roller, E', in uprights u u, attached to the standardsA, as shown. The roller E", having its periphery or face concave, servesto guide the clothes to the center of the rollers D and E. At the sametime it also delivers the clothes over its surface with but slightfriet-ional contact. I also apply an arm, as at i in Fig. 3, to receivethe eccentric-levers if, near the end ol' which is applied arelief-roller, E27 to guide the clothes as they are delivered frombetween the pressure-rollers in to the center of a basket or otherreceptacle, and thus prevent their being soiled by contact withthe'outside of the wash-tub. The eccentric arms or levers U are soapplied that when the wringer is secured to the wash-tub the eccentricportion of the levers will come in contact with the outside of the tuband so support the relief-roller in proper position. I also attach asupplemental relief-roll, E3, as shown, which maybe used with or withoutthe relief-roll E2, for the purpose of delivering the clothes trom thewringer into a basket or other receptacle.

' I'Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent ol' the United States, is-

l. The application and use of one or more lever-cores, 7L, or theirequivalent, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. The spring G, or its equivalent, constructed and appliedsubstantially in the manner and Yfor the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with the boxes F and crank-screw H, extending thelower limb, on, of the spring G outside the standards A, or, in anequivalent manner, supplying the means whereby the lateral movement ot'the spring may be prevented, as described.

et. The application ot the lever-screw ll, or its equivalent, in suchmanner as to permit ot" the oscillation olf the spring G, substantiallyas described.

5. The application ot' a single leverlknee, P, or its equivalent, to thegirt C, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

MINER VAN AUKEN.

Vitnesses:

P. CREIGHTON, Jas. FINLAYsoN.

